NCAA Tournament: BYU gets play-in game; other matchups (bracket)

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The BYU Cougars (25-8) have drawn a play-in contest with Iona (25-7) in Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday for the NCAA men's basketball tournament this season.

BYU will play the Gaels at 7 p.m. MT for a No. 14 seed. If the Cougars win, they will play Marquette on Thursday in Louisville.

"It has been a stressful week. It has been a long time since our game last Saturday, but it turned out great," Cougars coach Dave Rose said. "We are excited to be in the tournament, we are excited to still be playing, and I am happy for our players."

BYU nixed the notion that it was disappointed to be in a play-in game for a No. 14 seed.

"I am just really glad and really grateful that we get another shot at the tournament," senior forward Noah Hartsock said. "It is really hard to sit out a week and not know what is going to happen and just watch other teams play. There are a lot of great teams out there. I am just really thankful that we are getting another chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. No complaints here."

No other Utah team received a bid.

The Kentucky Wildcats were named the No. 1 overall seed.

Kentucky (32-2) will head to the South Region for a first-round game in Louisville. Syracuse (31-2), North Carolina (29-5) and Michigan State (27-7) are the other No. 1 seeds. The Orange will be in the East bracket, Tar Heels will be in Midwest and the Spartan will be in the West.

In the South, the Duke Blue Devils earned a No. 2 seed, drawing a game in Greensboro against Lehigh. The winner of that game with play the winner of No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 10 Xavier. Baylor drew a No. 3 seed and will play South Dakota State. No. 6 UNLV and No. 11 Colorado will go head-to-head in the same pod with the Bears in Albuquerque. No. 4 seed Indiana will play No. 13 New Mexico State, and will play the winner of No. 5 Wichata State and No. 12 VCU in Portland. Joining the Wildcats in Louisville will be Iowa State and Connecticut, and Mississippi Valley State and Western Kentucky will play on Tuesday for the No. 16 seed.

In the West, No. 16 seed Long Island will join Michigan State in Columbus, along with No 9 Memphis and No. 9 St. Louis. Missouri grabbed a No. 2 seed and a date with Norfolk State in Ohama — the winner of that game will play the winner of No. 7 Florida and Virginia. Marquette earned a No. 3 seed, and will be playing either Iona or BYU to play the winner of No. 6 Murray State and No. 11 Colorado State. Big East tournament champ Louisville gets a No. 4 seed and will play Davidson, while No. 5 New Mexico and No. 12 Long Beach State play in the same group in Portland.

In the East, North Carolina-Asheville will play Syracuse for a shot at the winner of No. 8 Kansas State and No. 9 Southern Miss. Ohio State earned a No.2 seed, and will play Loyola (Md.) in Pittsburgh alongside the game between No. 7 Gonzaga and No. 10 West Virginia. Florida State parlayed a strong ACC tournament performance into a game as a No. 3 seed with St. Bonaventure. The Seminoles will try to make the second round to play the winner of No. 6 Cincinnati and No. 11 Texas in Nashville. The field is rounded out in Albuquerque, where No. 4 Wisconsin will play No. 13 Montana, while No. 5 Vanderbilt will go against No. 12 Harvard.

Lamar and Vermont will have a play-in game to face No. 1 seed North Carolina in the Midwest, and the winner of the first round game in Greensboro will play either No. 8 Creighton or No. 9 Alabama. Kansas earned the No. 2 seed in the region and will play Detroit — with a win, it will play No. 7 St. Mary's (Calif.) or No. 10 Purdue. Georgetown got a No. 3 seed after a strong season in the Big East and will get a shot against No. 14 Belmont. The winner of that game will play the winner of No. 6 San Diego State and No. 11 N.C. State in Columbus. No. 4 Michigan will play No. 13 Ohio in the first round in Nashville, with the winner playing either No. 5 Temple or the two teams with a play-in game — California and South Florida.

Norfolk State and South Dakota State are first-time entrants in the tournament. Harvard earned its first bid since 1946.

The announcements were made on the Selection Show on CBS on Sunday afternoon.